Territorial Competition in an Integrating Europe - Perspectives on Europe : Contemporary Interdisciplinary Research

European integration and particularly the coming of the Single European Market has stimulated the development of new initiatives designed to promote the development and improve the competitive position of city and regional economies; usually in competition with others. This emerging territorial competition is unevenly developed, however. In many cases policies are misdirected or little more than symbolic. This collection, from a network of European researchers, addresses a number of fundamental questions about the phenomenon and its effects as well as analyzing the spatial implications of European integration itself. These questions include consideration of the factors which stimulate and constrain such competitive action; the scope and aims of competitive policies; the factors underlying the actual location decisions and the varying performance of firms in different regions; and how those factors relate to variables on which local policy can or attempts to operate. Empirical evidence is drawn from across Europe.